Prosecutors in the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office have dropped four criminal charges of theft and insurance fraud against Austin Tanner, the president of Orange Beach consulting firm ATA Loss Consulting, after discovering errors in a 2024 grand jury indictment. Mobile County Circuit Court Judge Michael Windom ordered Tanner’s charges dismissed and recalled a warrant that had been issued for his arrest the previous week.
Assistant District Attorney Clay Rossi said the case unraveled after prosecutors learned that a Satsuma church at the center of one allegation had never actually paid Tanner’s firm, contradicting information in the original indictment. Rossi said a review of the company’s billing records also turned up inconsistencies that had a reasonable explanation once examined further, including hours logged under a single employee’s name that actually represented a full work crew. “Their record keeping was trash,” Rossi said, describing the confusion that led to the original charges.
While charges against Tanner personally were dropped, prosecutors did file new civil charges against ATA Loss Consulting, alleging the firm used an illegal flat-fee billing model to collect payments from clients’ insurance claims. The firm settled those charges immediately, agreeing to a consent order that bars it from doing business in Mobile County for two years and requires it to pay roughly $50,000 in fines, investigation costs and attorney fees. As part of the settlement, ATA Loss Consulting denied any wrongdoing.
The reversal caps a turbulent stretch for Tanner, who had disputed the original allegations and saw prosecutors twice seek to revoke his bond while the case was pending. The most recent bond dispute arose after Tanner was charged with assault in connection with a fight during a June concert at The Wharf Amphitheater in Orange Beach, a charge that remains pending separately from the theft and fraud case that has now been dismissed.